Father of nine children—killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza—fights for his life
Palestinian physician Hamdi al-Najjar, who lost nine of his ten children in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, is in critical condition, according to the hospital treating him.
Al-Najjar sustained life-threatening injuries in the airstrike that hit his family home in Khan Yunis on Friday.
Dr. Milena Angelova-Chee, a Bulgarian physician working at Nasser Hospital, said on Sunday that al-Najjar’s “life remains in danger.”
Adam, Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who survived the attack, is “doing reasonably well” in light of the circumstances, said Angelova-Chee.
The children who were killed were Yahya, 12, Eve, 9, Rival, 5, Sadeen, 3, Rakan, 10, Ruslan, 7, Jibran, 8, Luqman, 2, and Sedar, not yet 1 year old, according to hospital officials.
Footage shared by Health Ministry Director, Muneer Alboursh, shows rescuers pulling charred and lifeless bodies of the children from the rubble in the aftermath of the airstrike.
Video provided by Gaza’s Civil Defense also showed a tiny charred body zipped up inside a bag. Sedar’s remains were never found.
“We couldn’t find any trace of him,” a Civil Defense worker said.
Al-Najjar’s wife, Alaa al-Najjar, a pediatric specialist at al-Tahrir Hospital in Gaza, was at work when the airstrike hit their home.
Her family’s tragedy has become a devastating symbol of the overwhelming civilian cost of Israel’s genocidal war, which has now entered its 20th month.
News of the deaths of Najjar’s family and warnings of looming famine and starvation in Gaza have intensified domestic and international pressure on Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to end the devastating war in Gaza.
Since October 2023, at least 54,000 people have been killed and many more have been maimed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Over 15,000 children have been among the victims.
